Process The Podcast

“The audience comes last, so that they can come first.” - Erin Starkweather How does a beauty brand that only launched in November 2019 end up selling one Glowy Super Gel every 10 seconds at Sephora? Erin Starkweather, Creative Director of Saie Beauty, has been there even before day one. She started out packing boxes in her apartment on Sunday nights, and today she shapes every visual touchpoint o...

 “Likes are a beautiful vanity metric... but if your wallet’s not killing it, why are we doing it?” — Sally Obermeder This episode was a part of a juicy panel at the Social Summit Manly 2026. We can’t wait to take you behind the curtain with Sally Obermeder, founder of Ziish (formerly Swiish)!  Can you actually get paid for likes on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook? Does 100k likes mean you...

"It's all relationships... learn the camera, definitely. But then invest your time in relationships." — Jamie Green Jamie Green didn't pick up a camera until 2017. Before that, he was building a social enterprise sleepwear label in Melbourne. A move to Byron Bay, photos of his wife for Instagram, and one brand asking "can you do that for us?" turned into a whirlwind career. He has shot campaigns a...

Jess Pecoraro didn't know what a stylist was until she walked into the Cosmopolitan fashion cupboard. By 23, she had worked her way through some of Australia's biggest magazines. Then she walked away from her dream job with no clients, no title and no safety net, betting she could build something bigger on her own. Today she's one of Sydney's most in-demand celebrity stylists and fashion brand con...

If you're a founder, business owner, or the person on the marketing team who keeps getting told "we need more founder videos" , this episode is the actual framework, not just the advice why & how to do it. In this Petit, Arielle breaks down exactly how she produces founder-led and expert-led video content for her own retainer clients, including real case studies from Sheila the Label and McMullen...

Most photographers shooting fashion campaigns today work in digital, instant previews, instant safety net. Brydie Mack, known to her audience as Wolf Cub, doesn't. She shoots everything on film: three to four rolls per look, five different cameras on set as backup, and a vague idea of what she's actually got until the lab sends it back. In this episode, Brydie breaks down exactly what it takes to...

"It's an object of obsession about one woman... you genuinely get an intimacy that you cannot find anywhere else." — Grace O'Neill & Paulina Paige Grace O'Neill and Paulina Paige have built magazines and campaigns for some of the biggest names in fashion media. But this time, they threw out every rule they knew and started from zero with no guardrails, no existing audience, no safety net. The resu...

"My parents owned a five star luxury hotel that they built when I was ten... it formed me in a way that I cannot even comprehend." — Arielle Thomas For over 140 episodes, Arielle's been the one asking the questions. This week, she turned the mic on herself. With so many new listeners joining after the Merit episode went viral, it felt like time to rewind the tape, who she actually is, how Process...

"You can't afford to be an arsehole if you're famous; people talk about it too much." - Joh Bailey Forty-one years ago, Joh Bailey opened a single Double Bay salon with one goal: to be number one. Today, that same "no bullshit" philosophy has taken him from doing Princess Diana's hair on royal visits to building his own haircare line from scratch; tested, adjusted, and re-tested until it was right...

"My parents owned a five star luxury hotel that they built when I was ten... it formed me in a way that I cannot even comprehend." — Arielle Thomas For over 140 episodes, Arielle's been the one asking the questions. This week, she turned the mic on herself. With so many new listeners joining after the Merit episode went viral, it felt like time to rewind the tape, who she actually is...

"It's an object of obsession about one woman... you genuinely get an intimacy that you cannot find anywhere else." — Grace O'Neill & Paulina Paige Grace O'Neill and Paulina Paige have built magazines and campaigns for some of the biggest names in fashion media. But this time, they threw out every rule they knew and started from zero with no guardrails, no existing audienc...

"The beauty of great satire is you blur the line of whether or not something is true or not true."- Claudia Bursill Before she was Miss Double Bay, Claudia Bursill was just a uni student with a Woolworths review that spiralled into a national news story. Today, that same anonymous meme account is her literal resume; it's how she landed a job at the Betoota Advocate, and now leads tal...

Aila Morin is the founding Chief Marketing Officer of Merit Beauty, one of the fastest-growing brands in the beauty industry. On this episode of Process, host Arielle Thomas sits down with Aila for a rare, in-depth conversation about brand building, marketing strategy, and product development, from Merit's earliest days as an anonymous Instagram account to its most recent Clean Volume mascara...

Your showreel might be quietly costing you clients, and no one's telling you that. In this solo petite episode, host Arielle Thomas walks through the exact framework she's using to recalibrate Cinema Thom: why clients now hire for problem-solving over taste, the real difference between a showreel and a case study, and the asset-mapping system replacing both. Part life update, part masterclass in f...

"If people want to work with you, they’re going to find you. So you've just got to create the work, be aligned with your own taste, and put it out there." — Ali Mitton From a darkroom in the Gold Coast to shooting global campaigns in Los Angeles, photographer Ali Mitton has built an undeniable, sun-drenched career capturing freedom, raw movement, and elevated beauty. But what happens when the high...

"If everyone draws from the same pool of images, but they don't know why they're drawing from that, the work becomes the same." - Zoë Yasemin Welcome back to Process the Podcast. This week, Arielle sits down with Dutch-based creative director, researcher, and the brilliant mind behind the viral, globally ranked Substack: The Art Direction, Zoë Yasemin.  While previous guests have masterfully explo...

"The reason why I want to instill you guys to care about this... is not because I want you to care about basketball. It's because I want you to care about the shape of the story. It's the unglamorous, the hours and hours and hours that go into unrewarded work." — Arielle Thomas Welcome back to another episode of Process the Podcast. We are sliding right back into the studio this week, and the way...

"You had an idea every ten seconds for Vogue. You can have an idea every ten seconds for yourself." - Kirstie Clements Welcome back to Process: Encore. In this archival series, we bring forward the timeless dialogues that laid the groundwork for Process.  This week, Arielle revisits a deeply layered, expansive conversation with best selling author, journalist, and legendary former Editor-in-Chief...

"I don't say to my assistants that you're working for me... you're working for the picture, so everything you do is about making the picture better. The picture is my boss." - Georges Antoni Welcome back to Process: Encore. In this archive series, we spotlight the foundational conversations that continue to guide our creative landscape, unedited, uncut, and re-centred for our community today. This...

"The more I want the work to be the focus, the more I pull back sharing myself. I want the work to speak." — Jasmine Dowling Welcome to Process: Encore!  In this archive series, we’re spotlighting the foundational conversations that continue to guide our creative community, completely untouched from the day they first aired!  This week, we are taking you back to a hotel room in Brisbane where Arie...

The boardrooms are obsessed with a community, but most are just building an audience. This week in the Clubhouse, Arielle sits down with retail and AI strategist at Amazon Web Services, corporate influencer, and community builder, Brooke Moody. If you’ve been trying to unlock the framework of how to turn passive metrics into a hyper-engaged collective, consider this your ultimate guide. Brooke has...

We’re taking you out of the Clubhouse and onto the Masterclass Stage. 🎙️ This week, we’re sharing a special live recording from The Social Summit 2026 in Melbourne, presented by Riser Collective. Arielle joined three powerhouse women on April 23rd to pull off a topic that every creative professional needs to master: Reverse Engineering Your Creative Career. This session explores how to intentional...

Jemma Sbeg is the voice behind the global #1 psychology podcast, The Psychology of Your 20s. From a management consultant with a private Instagram account with only 600 followers to signing a historic global deal as one of only 15 podcasters on Netflix, Jemma has redefined what creative at scale looks like in 2026. In this episode, she joins Arielle in the Clubhouse to pull back the curtain on the...

In an era where every app demands a different ratio and every campaign must stretch across dozens of platforms, the old school brief of 10 hero images and some video is officially delusional. In this episode, Arielle Thomas, Motion Director, Founder of Cinema Thom, introduces a game-changing framework called Shoot Architecture. Learn how to move away from chaotic, frantic shoot days and toward a "...

From the editor’s desk at Harper’s Bazaar to the front lines of fashion tech and circularity, Kellie Hush has seen every evolution of the Australian style landscape. Now, as she leads the charge for a revitalised, newly not-for-profit Australian Fashion Week, Kellie is on a mission to bring the industry back to its roots: trade, community, and global recognition. In this episode, we pull back the...